A 150-mile transmission line project from Public Service Electric & Gas has so far not disturbed the bald eagle population there, according to the U.S. government and volunteer observers.Star-Ledger file photo

Public Service Electric & Gas' 150-mile transmission line project through New Jersey has so far had minimal impact on bald eagles in the Morris County area, U.S. government officials and volunteer observers told the Daily Record.

The groups have been monitoring PSEG&G's 47-mile construction area of the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line, the paper reported.

Bald eagle nests in Rockaway Township, Picatinny Arsenal and Parsippany areas have produced chicks over the past year, although it remains to be seen whether the eagles will return to the nests during the nesting season, which began Jan. 1.

George Sous, a PSE&G spokesman, said a segment of construction in Troy Meadows contains an environmentally sensitive area "in which we also had to work through that bald eagle restriction."

Work had to be done before the Jan. 1 deadline, when the eagle restriction began.

Sous said PSE&G worked from the end of September through December to replace several transmission lines.

"All through the state of New Jersey there are different areas that are known to be frequented by various species," he said. "Responsible companies, and we are certainly one of them, respect and adhere to those restrictions, and try to work within those."

The $1.5 billion transmission project will install a 500,000 volt transmission line from the Berwick area in Pennsylvania to PSE&G’s substation in Roseland, running through 16 New Jersey communities in Warren, Sussex, Morris and Essex counties.

But the project has been assailed by environmentalists who believe it will ruin views at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and keep coal-fired plants open by enabling them to sell power to East Coast customers.

Bald eagles, which were removed from the federal endangered species list in the 1990s, remains on a list of threatened wildlife.